


Reminiscing

by louare



Category: Mario & Luigi RPG (Video Games), Super Mario Bros. (Video Games), Super Paper Mario (Game)
Genre: IT'S A VERY SUBTLE SHIP BUT IF YOU SQUINT ITS THERE, Luigi has a science degree, Memory Loss, Mental Health Issues, Science, The BeanBean Kingdom, Woohoo Hooniversity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-28
Updated: 2017-11-28
Packaged: 2019-02-08 02:32:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12854847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/louare/pseuds/louare
Summary: "Luigi doesn’t remember separating from Mr. L. He doesn’t remember being hypnotized, fighting his brother, and only has a faint notion of who Count Bleck was. He can’t even remember forming Super Dimentio.He does remember waking up in the hospital bed, looking to his right, and seeing himself lying in another bed beside him. He had screamed, and his mirror image screamed back before the others rushed into the room to calm them."The events leading up to Dr. Luigi and Professor L.





	Reminiscing

**Author's Note:**

> So this is a really long fic i've been working on for a long time! it's an au where... well, you'll find out, i guess. called the salt shaker au.

Luigi doesn’t remember separating from Mr. L. He doesn’t remember being hypnotized, fighting his brother, and only has a faint notion of who Count Bleck was. He can’t even remember forming Super Dimentio.

He does remember waking up in the hospital bed, looking to his right, and seeing himself lying in another bed beside him. He had screamed, and his mirror image screamed back before the others rushed into the room to calm them.

Mario explained it to them.  Luigi remembers clearly Mr. L’s reception to the news. He had drawn the white sheet around him and curled up against the metal railing, as far away as he could be from Mario. The pillows acted as a barrier in front of his crossed legs.

The others- Peach, Bowser, and a few others that he thought were the villains, Nastasia and O’Chunks- stood in the background, a troop of worried faces as Mario explained what they had seen. Super Dimentio dissolving, and then erupting with explosions; a body, Luigi’s, jumping from it. When the dust had cleared, they saw that is hadn’t been one body throwing itself from the wreckage; it had been two, the other holding tightly to the arm of the first. Mr. L.

Nastasia had stepped forward then. She said she had no clue how this could happen. She explained her intention was not to create two personalities; she had taken Luigi’s less prominent traits, like arrogance and anger and brought them to the surface, and cast his memories and kindness back and behind a barrier. In doing so, she would be able to reverse it at any time, by simply removing the barrier and allowing the mind to merge over a period of time. She guessed that Dimentio had used the power of the Chaos Heart or maybe the Floro Sprout and she was so sorry, so- so- so- so-

She had broken down crying then, and had to leave the room. O’Chunks followed her.

 Luigi had looked at Mr. L again as the sound of sobbing faded. Mr. L was staring at the heroes.

“So, you’re saying I’m just... pieces of a personality? _From him?_ ”

They said nothing, confirming his statement.

Mr. L had glanced at Luigi then, and Luigi was still struck by how _lost_ the man had looked in that moment.

____

Luigi remembered the day they decided to bring Mr. L to the Mushroom Kingdom.

Everyone was against it. Even Bowser agreed with them. Mr. L was an unstable mess- he’d snap and scream at you one moment, but in the next he would seem to shut down, and become blank, like an overclocked machine.

Princess Peach said she didn’t want him in the Kingdom. She didn’t think he would be able to stay out of trouble.  Mario didn’t say much of anything, but it was clear he hadn’t forgiven Mr. L for his part in destroying the worlds. It seemed he also agreed with Peach, in that Mr. L wouldn’t stay out of trouble- Bowser seemed to just dislike the man out of principle.

Luigi felt the same way.  He would have been happy never to see Mr. L again. It was like looking into a mirror, only the image you saw was you, at the worst and lowest you could ever be.

But maybe it was the brief glimpse Luigi caught- that Mr. L was truly, utterly lost in this world, unable to define himself or who he was. Maybe it was the fact that Nastasia couldn’t look at either of them without crying.

But when they were arguing over what to do with Mr. L, the man in question waiting outside, staring at the wall, Luigi spoke up. He wanted Mr. L to come with them.

It hadn’t exactly been a screaming match, but it had been close to one. Princess Peach was diplomatic as always- Bowser and Mario, not so much. If Nastasia and O’Chunks hadn’t been on his side, Luigi was sure he would have bowed to their wishes.

At the end, they weren’t convinced, but they agreed. Mr. L would go to the Mushroom Kingdom.

He remembers walking out of the room and looking at Mr. L. He spoke to the man on a whim.

“It’s decided. You’re going to be coming with us to our world.”

“You?” Mr. L said, his tone incredulous, “Please. I can’t go to your world. I’m- a villain. I can’t be with a bunch of heroes.”

Luigi felt awkward. He shrugged. “It’s happening.”

He felt Mr. L’s eyes on his back as he walked away. He was going to say goodbye to Mimi and the few Flipside residents he had grown acquainted with. He didn’t want to be around when Mario or Peach confirmed the news.

____

He remembers the overwhelming feeling of regret, coupled with frustration and an anger that burned so hard he thought it would never die out.

Mr. L was still a mess, even after a couple months of settling down. Ironically, those first months had seemed promising- Mr. L hadn’t put up much fuss initially. For several weeks, he was like a doll; quiet and mostly still, and you could do almost anything to him without protest. Then, it was like flipping a switch. He snapped at everyone and everything; Luigi swears he heard the man yelling at the toaster once. He was a snarling beast, lashing out at anything that came near.

 Mario, to his credit, did his best to make Mr. L feel at home. He helped Luigi moved boxes and furniture out of the storage room, and clean it for its original purpose as a guest room. He was amicable when Luigi bought Mr. L a new wardrobe- he had been wearing the same black garb Nastasia had found somewhere for him at Flipside, and it was filthy and torn in several places.

But Luigi knew he didn’t really like having Mr. L around. And Mario, to his credit, didn’t try too hard to hide it. He could be as polite as pie if he had to speak to the man, no matter what Mr. L yelled back, but he was almost never home anymore; he would leave almost every morning with some excuse, like, “Peach’s castle,” or “trouble with the toads, gotta help them you know, sorry bro!”

Luigi didn’t know what to do. It came to a point where he didn’t really _want_ to do anything. Even the idea of dealing with Mr. L exhausted him. He was still dealing with his own trauma. There were times he would wake up from a dream he couldn’t remember, shaking and covered in cold sweat. Those were the times he couldn’t get back to sleep, either, and he would sneak downstairs and drink coffee at the kitchen table, and listen to the radio. The voices-loud, boisterous, _normal-_ calmed him down enough so he could face his brother and Mr. L the next morning, but even then he could never manage to get back to sleep in the same night.

Avoiding him made him feel guilty, but Luigi couldn’t bring himself to confront the man. His tantrums were too much to handle.

It was on a sleepless night when he found Mr. L downstairs. He had lain in bed for an hour and a half before giving up and sneaking to the kitchen. The scene was so similar, Luigi stopped in the doorway and stared, thinking of when they had woken up in Flipside and first seen each other.

Mr. L still wore his mask, but he was wearing one of his new tank-tops and a pajama bottom. There was a blanket twisted around his shoulders, though it was the middle of summer.  He stared downward, eyebrows furrowed, trying to glare a hole into the table.  Luigi leaned against the doorway, and crossed his arms, unwilling to go inside.

Then Mr. L looked up. “What, you gonna stand there and stare all night? “ He said irritably. “Get whatever you’re getting and go.”

His footsteps must have given him away. He walked to the coffeepot. “I’m just surprised to see you here. “ Luigi said. “Couldn’t sleep?”

“It’s none of your business.” Mr. L said.

Luigi fought down his annoyance and nodded. “I guess it’s not.”  The coffee brewing, he switched the radio on, turned the volume low, and leaned against the counter and looked at Mr. L. The low sound of voices filled the room. Luigi could make out a male announcer advertising a concert of some sort.

He knew Mr. L must have felt his gaze on him, but if he did, he gave no acknowledgment. He stubbornly glowered at the table.

“…You feeling okay?” Luigi asked.

“I’m fine.”

“You don’t sound fine.” He pressed.

“So?” Mr. L growled, and finally turned around to glare. “It doesn’t matter! We both know you don’t really care, so stop pretending you do, and just leave.” He turned back, and drew the blanket tighter around him.

Luigi closed his eyes, and breathed out his nose. “That’s not true. I just want to help.”

“Stop lying.”

The coffee machine beeped, and they both jumped.  

Luigi hesitated, but made two cups of coffee. He knew which cup Mr. L liked- the orange plastic one, because it used to be _his_ favorite- but couldn’t remember how Mr. L liked his coffee, so he left it black. He set the cups on the table, and took the seat across from Mr. L. He slid the mug towards the man.

He looked at Mr. L until he took the coffee, and then he tried to speak.

“I’m trying.” Luigi said quietly. “I’ve been trying very hard. “

“I know.” Mr. L conceded, wilting slightly before rising up, his face twisting with anger again, “Sure. Yeah. You have.” Mr. L scrubbed his face. “I know. I know, I know. And so has _MARIO._ ” He spat the name. “You’ve both been trying. “

“He has.”

“He can barely even stand to look at me,” Mr. L said. “And I can say the same.”

Luigi wasn’t sure if he was talking about Mario or himself. “He’s hardly even here. “  Luigi said.

“I know!” Mr. L exclaimed. “I know that! But I just can’t stand it! Living here, under his roof, eating his food…” He rubbed his face.” I can’t do anything. I’m useless. I can’t- work with machines… make robots, I can’t…”

“We can find you a job,” Luigi offered.

“I don’t want _you_ to find me a job.” Mr. L snapped. “I want…” He trailed off to silence. Luigi watched and understood.

“I understand. You want- to be independent. “He said softly. He thought first to say ‘for everything to be normal again’ but changed his mind. “It was different when you were working for Count Bleck. You were _working_ for him. Here, you’re… living off someone, and worse, the guy you considered your enemy.”

Mr. L breathed out. “Yeah.” He said.

Luigi was quiet for a moment. “You… you could be independent here. Nobody’s would stop you-“

“Yeah, they would, “Mr. L said, and sounded very tired.” That princess spread the word when you _forced_ me here. I’m a dangerous criminal.”

_“What?”_

“Why do you think I never go outside?” He snarled.” All those stupid mushroom guys always stare at me-and they won’t talk to me either! Like I would attack them.”

“…Would you?”

“No!” Mr. L huffed. “Being with Dimentio… and being controlled like that, and… you can’t comprehend how it felt in that thing. All that…” He shook his head. “I don’t want to ever hurt anyone ever again. “

Luigi looked away. He couldn’t comprehend it. Only Mr. L had those memories. 

“I’m sorry.” He said.

Mr. L looked at him, startled. “Why?” he asked.

“Because I forced you here. I don’t know why I even did it, you probably would have been so much better- happier with Nastasia and O’Chunks. “

“I wouldn’t have been,“ Mr. L said decisively, “I would have been miserable, I wasn’t even happy when-“

“Don’t lie, Mr. L.”

Mr. L shut down.

They were both quiet, for a long time.  Luigi closed his eyes, and tried to quell the rage of emotions that beat inside his chest.

They were both so unhappy here.  Luigi could understand how Mr. L felt about being dependent. He felt it himself.

Luigi thought of when he had the same feeling of restlessness; he remembered what he had done to quell it. Luigi couldn’t believe he had never gone through with it. He couldn’t be sure if Mr. L would be interested; he might see it as Luigi just trying to fix his mistakes, to set something up to keep him quiet.

When he opened his eyes to ask Mr. L, the man was gone. The orange cup was on the counter beside the sink. He hadn’t even heard the footsteps.

____

Luigi had a fantastic memory, and still does, but every adventure seems like a lifetime, and everything before an almost forgotten dream.  He still had all of his old textbooks, and was worried that he had forgotten everything, but when he started to read, everything began to trickle back.  He stayed in his room for several days, reading over the old textbooks. Luigi forgot how much he loved learning biology.

When he felt he was learned enough to survive at least a cursory questioning, he started to submit applications. Most were pure research jobs, and a few were heavier. He succeeded in getting interviews for most all of them; they seemed impressed, but the moment Luigi mentioned Mr. L, he saw a change- a flicker of alarm, which was quickly covered by a mask of professionalism. The interview would often end soon afterward, and if he called, they wouldn’t answer the phone.

They never replied to the thank you letters, either.

Luigi hated it, but Mr. L was right. He was a pariah. Nobody wanted anything to do with a former villain.

When Mario was out one day, Luigi came down from his room and found Mr. L lying on the sofa, unscrewing the base of the blender. The TV was on, but its volume was low, and looked only to be on for appearances.

When he reached the last step, it squeaked, violently, and Mr. L looked up. He caught sight of Luigi and his eyes widened, and then narrowed; he stood and began to walk towards the kitchen.

“Wait!” Luigi said desperately, “Look, Mr. L, I want to talk to you about something.”

The man paused, and looked back over his shoulder. Luigi could feel the heavy air of suspicion.

“About what?”

“Well, when we talked a couple weeks ago…” Luigi started.

Mr. L’s face fell blank, and he continued into the kitchen. Luigi stood at the bottom of the stairs, conflicted. He was about to follow when Mr. L came back, the blender and screwdriver gone, and took a seat on the couch.  Luigi stared.

“Well?” Mr. L snapped.

His eyes followed Luigi as he cautiously made his way into the living room and took a seat on the armchair, beside the couch.

There was an awkward silence for a moment.

“We could get a job together. “ Luigi said quickly. Mr. L blinked. “I’ve the qualifications- and technically, you do too, since we’re the same person. I know you kinda hate me too, but ever since we talked I’ve been thinking about it, and I know we could…” He faltered. “I guess… uh… get out of here. “

“Look,” Luigi said, shifting,” What if we moved out of the Mushroom Kingdom?”

Mr. L crinkled his eyebrows. ”There are other places besides the Mushroom Kingdom?”

Luigi nodded, hiding his surprise- in hindsight, Mr. L wouldn’t know about other kingdoms, would he. “Yeah, there’s the Waffle Kingdom, BeanBean Kingdom…” he trailed off. Mr. L had an incredulous look on his face.

“Both of those places sound made-up,” he said.

“Yeah, well they’re not.” Luigi said. “I don’t know what kind of jobs, or… well, how we could get money to _start,_ but I’ve got a degree in biology, and we could do something. In research, or, or…” He trailed off. Mr. L had an odd look on his face.

“You’ve thought this out pretty well.” He said quietly. Luigi wasn’t sure if he was being sarcastic, but Mr. L’s next words had a pronounced touch of bitterness,” I’m surprised you haven’t already chosen a job for me.”

Luigi winced. “…I tried. But you were right. No one wants to hire…”

“A criminal.”

“You’re not a criminal, Mr. L”

Mr. L shot him a glare and Luigi looked away.

“What would I have to do?”

He shrugged, helplessly. “Whatever you want to do, I guess. I know you can be really charming if you want to. If… we are the same person… you technically have the same qualifications. We-“

“You know, why do you think if I _did_ get out of here, I would do anything with you?” Mr. L spat. “I can barely stand thinking about your ugly face.”

Luigi shrugged. “Mario… He might come after you if you just left.“

“And then I wouldn’t just be called a criminal, I would locked up like one.” He muttered.

Luigi winced. “Exactly.”

Mr. L stared at the floor for a long moment.

“I’ll think about it.” He said finally. “Okay?”

That’s all he could ask.

And Mr. L did think about it. And he agreed.

So they flubbed their resumes a little bit.  So what if maybe the administration at WooHoo University thought that they had years of experience in the scientific field, and that _sure,_ they even had teaching certificates. Luigi hadn’t really thought that they would ever be hired as teachers, but  somehow, all those days sweet talking the administrators paid off.

They got a loan. They got a house. They healed.

____

“Hey, Luigi, open your eyes. You gotta get up. “

Luigi cracked open a lid. “What are you talking about?” he murmured, “It’s a lab day…”

“Yeah, but it’s your turn to cook breakfast,” Mr. L said in an impatient tone.

“No it’s not,” Luigi said, confused.

Mr. L groaned, and the next thing he knew, Luigi tumbled out of the bed and hit the floor in a tangle of blankets and limbs.

“L!” he yelled, now fully awake.

“Sorry,” Mr. L said, sounding a little sheepish.” I, uh, really don’t want to cook today. I forgot to grade the lab quizzes.”

“How did you forget?” Luigi asked irritably. “You were up all night last night.”

“Not all night.” Mr. L said in an offended tone. “Now come on, I need breakfast.”

He bounded out of the room, only to come back a moment later.

“Aren’t you coming?”

“I didn’t hear a question in that spiel. “

Mr. L sighed impatiently. “Will you cook breakfast?”

“Or a please.”

Mr. L scowled and crossed his arms. “Will you do it or not? I can’t stand not eating.”

“Fine, fine, “ Luigi muttered. “Give me a minute.” Mr. L bounded out of the room, and Luigi yelled after him, “You owe me though!”

There was a muffled reply that he couldn’t understand.  Luigi sighed as he picked himself off the floor.

There were times that he despised living with his doppelganger. This was certainly one of them.

But over the past year, he had learned a lot about the other man, and about himself. Mr. L was one of the most feared professors at the university- but his classes had the highest pass rate. Luigi would never speak of it, but as he got dressed, he thought of the day Mr. L asked him to shadow during a dangerous lab experiment.

He remembered the explosion and shattering glass, and he remembered Mr. L shoving both himself and the student to the ground… and when the danger had passed, chewing the student out for a full half-hour.

It had been a year since they’d left Luigi’s home. Mario still called every week, and there were still times when Luigi thought about going back, like his brother always asked. 

He left his room and passed by the dining room, where Mr. L sat, reading over a stack of papers. A small grin was on his face, and his red marking pen lay discarded. 

That would be the tests from Anatomy, Luigi thought. This could be one of his best classes so far, if they did that well on the muscle unit.

As Luigi pulled out a skillet from under the counter, he realized why he would never take Mario up on his offer.

This was a good, perfect life. This was really all he ever wanted.

**Author's Note:**

> I did my best check for grammar and errors, but if i missed anything, tell me.


End file.
